By LINN ANN HUNTINGTON
Special to the Hays Post
The Ellis County Ministerial Alliance will be opening up a cold weather shelter this fall to house the homeless and travelers stranded in Hays when the temperatures dip to 20 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. This will be the first time Ellis County has had any type of cold weather shelter.
A ministerial alliance committee has been working for two years to formulate plans and find a suitable location for the shelter. Now, the organization iscallingl for volunteers to go through the training necessary to staff the shelter when it is open.
The first informational meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, at First Baptist Church, 11th and Fort streets. A second informational meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, at the same location. Those interested in volunteering need only attend one of the meetings. Attendees are asked to register at www.ourecma.com/hayscoldshelter.
Cheryl Glassman, ministerial alliance president, emphasized that these one-hour meetings do not obligate a person to sign up as a volunteer. They are informational only.
Linda Mills, co-chairwoman of the ministerial alliance Cold Weather Committee, said, “We would like people to sign up so we know how many people are coming.”
Those who decide to volunteer will attend a four-hour training session later in the fall. Those training dates are on the website.
No taxpayer dollars are being used to fund the shelter. It is being financed through private funding. Mills is working on a grant to help with that.
The other members of the committee are Brandon Nimz, co-chair, who is the leader of Unite Ministry in Hays; the Rev. G. Chris Prater, pastor of Hays First Baptist Church; and the Rev. Christine Wagner, transitional pastor at First Presbyterian Church.
Mills said, “At this time, we estimate there are two to five people in the community who, because of limited resources, must sleep outside or in vehicles during extreme cold weather.”
She said that estimate is based on her decade heading First Call for Help of Ellis County, an agency supported financially by the ministerial alliance. She has since retired, but she said on cold nights, it was not unusual for up to five homeless people to appear at First Call’s office asking for money to stay in a motel room for the night.
Unfortunately, First Call is not able to provide monetary assistance to homeless people in Ellis County or operate a walk-in homeless shelter.
She said the committee looked at the average temperatures in Hays over the last few years. Based on that research, the committee believes “we may need to open the shelter as many as 20 nights between November and March,” she said. The shelter hours will be 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. on those nights when the temperature is forecasted to drop to 20 degrees or lower.
The shelter will be at Hays First Baptist Church, 11th and Fort Streets. Finding a suitable shelter location was the first challenge the committee addressed, Mills said. It had to be large enough to allow men and women to have separate sleeping areas. It had to have running water and heat, and there were liability insurance questions that had to be resolved.
The shelter is non-denominational, and “no one will be preached at,” Mills said.
The committee also looked at what times the shelter will be open. The committee members decided on 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., with check-in from 8 to 10 p.m. If no guests arrive by 10 p.m., volunteers will be able to go home, she said.
Guests will not be given food, money or transportation, she said. No pets will be allowed. Guests must be 18 or older. Those younger than 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Lastly, the committee looked at what training the volunteers will need.
“The volunteers are going to be there to ensure the safety of our guests,” Mills said.
The four hours of volunteer training will include the following: learning about the shelter facility (for example, where the fuse box is if the power goes out, where cleaning supplies are located, etc.), interaction with guests, safety issues, dealing with challenging situations, de-escalation training, check-in procedures, and specific things that volunteers will need to be aware of during the night.
Mills said the committee met with Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler to make him aware of the shelter’s upcoming opening, and she described him as very helpful.
There will be two volunteers on duty at all times. Volunteers may sign up for shifts or may choose to work the entire night, Mills said. “The more volunteers we have, the less often they will have to work,” she added.
Volunteers will sign an agreement spelling out their duties and ECMA’s expectations. Guests will also sign a statement agreeing to abide by the shelter rules (no drugs, alcohol, weapons, etc.). Mills said the committee looked at other cities of a similar size and used their agreements as models.
Glassman, the ministerial alliance president, said setting up this type of shelter has been a long-term goal of the organization.
"When I visit my daughter in New York City, I see numerous individuals asleep on the streets. However, in Hays, Kansas, I don't think we see it, but it exists here," Glassman said.
“As Christians, we are called to serve those in need. One of the reasons we have ECMA is to address the spiritual issues of our community, including, but not limited to, assistance. First Call for Help, which is supported by ECMA, can provide assistance to those in need but cannot provide a place for the homeless to stay when the temperatures outside are life-threatening.”
Now the shelter will be able to do that. Questions about the shelter or the informational meetings may be directed to [email protected].
The ministerial alliance will have its first formal meeting of fall 2024 from noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, at The Center for Life Experience, 103C E. 27th. The ministerial alliance welcomes all Christians who are involved in ministry or are retired from ministry to attend meetings.
“A non-denominational organization, ECMA provides support for local organizations who care for the needy. ‘ONE Magazine’ is also part of ECMA. ECMA's two big projects are the annual free Thanksgiving dinner, which will be held at the Hays National Guard Armory on Thanksgiving Day, and The National Day of Prayer. The National Day of Prayer is the first Thursday of May every year and will be held again in 2025 at the Hays VFW,” Glassman said.